Hello,
I believe the below described method of causing
intentional (1) damage to equipment in data centers and
(2) physical injury to a person at the workplace is
on-topic for the NANOG community, if not, I look forward
to your feedback. As a software developer who has
subscribed to the NANOG mailing list for a number of
years, I post this note relying on intellectual honesty
that I have had the opportunity to observe since 1996-97.
The below described technology risk is applicable to
computing/communication equipment rendered vulnerable by
Intentional Electromagnetic Interference (jamming an
electronic device) and the risk of health sabotage
affecting people (jamming a human) managing the Internet
infrastructure enabled by intentional application of
powerful radiofrequency fields (RF) emitted by re-purposed
components salvaged from a kitchen heating appliance
(Magnetron) or from an outdoor high gain/power Line of
sight transceiver (unidirectional microwave radio) which
has a harm causing range up to 25 meters (estimated using
a Spectral Power Density calculator like
www.hintlink.com/power_density.htm).
This risk from mis-application of powerful RF is from
human operated or IoT apparatus** with an avenue of
approch from (a) subterrain placement aided by a
compact/mini directional horizontal drilling machine (eg.
principle of placing a stent in the heart) and/or (b)
strategic placement in an obscure over-surface location to
maximize negative impact on the target of opportunity.
With building materials or ground offer insufficient*
protection to block the passage of powerful RF and the
absence of diagnostic/forensic tests to detect biomarkers
expressed post-overexposure to harmful RF (combination of
RF frequency, Spectral Power Density/Specific Absorption
Rate incident on a person and duration of exposure),
intentional damage to electronic equipment and people is
at present unrestricted.
The purpose of bringing this method of exploting
technology to your attention is with an interest to build
the momentum for ushering in the much needed safeguards in
this context.
While I'm a bit confused as to what this message is
trying to ultimately get at, it should be noted that folks
who work with RF communications equipment and other EM
emitters which are strong enough to cause harm to a person
are generally well aware of the necessary precautions and
take them on a day to day basis when working with this
equipment. If there's evidence that some part of our
industry is ignoring or failing to train their team members
on safety best practices, then let's hear that out
specifically and I'm all for working to rectify that.
On the other hand, the post seems to hint at
intentionally using high powered RF to inflict intentional
harm on a person or to jam communications signals. The
former is relatively difficult to do by virtue of the amount
of power necessary. Quite basically, there are much easier
ways to go about injuring someone if that's what you want to
do. Of course, intentionally injuring another person is a
criminal act in just about every jurisdiction. As far as the
latter goes, the ability to jam RF communications has
existed for as long as RF communication has, and the
knowledge of how to accomplish it is relatively widespread.
It is also illegal in the US and most likely many other
jurisdictions as well, and in the US the FCC has enforcement
power with the ability to levy some pretty hefty fines on
anyone who does so, even inadvertently though negligent
practices.
The post states that their intention is to "build the
momentum for ushering in the much needed safeguards in this
context." but lacks specificity with regard to what
safeguards they propose beyond the legal/regulatory ones
that already exist, so I'm not sure what more can really be
said here.
